The OFW Phenomenon has led to a different face of the
Filipino families where children are raised by single parents. There are cases
that show this kind of set-up where one works outside of the country a
dysfunctional family is created. Indeed, for spouses left in the country to
take care of their children it is a great challenge to create a good family.

Recognizing the difficult task of maintaining and creating a
good family despite the odds; and the need to show to the growing number of OFW
families that achieving to have a good family is doable “The Search for 8 Outstanding OFW Spouses” was launch.

The Search for 8 Outstanding OFW Spouses will have its soft
launch this May 5 at the Trinoma Activity Center.

The search aims to harness best practices by successful
spouses in running an OFW Family in the following areas: money management and
growing children to become good and productive citizens of the country.

According to Michelle Ballesteros, CEO of EXLINK Corp.,
“these aims will impact the OFW families, most especially OFW spouses, in
learning from each other and feeding from the success of OFW spouses like
them.”

The search penultimate day will be on March 2012 where the
first 8 Outstanding OFW Spouses get to be recognized and given trophies and
other fabulous prizes.

The event is produced and organized by EX-LINK Management
and Marketing Services Corp. in partnership with different OFW organizations.
For more information, call tel # 643-3887 or email info@exlinkevents.com.

The Kabuhayang Pinoy Expo, May 5-7,2011, Trinoma Activity
Center provides a lot of business seminars, games and activities that visitors
will surely benefit and enjoy.

Now on its second year, the event promises every visitor a
summer treat that can help them boost their economic standing because of the
many available business showcase and opportunities available during the event.

The event also assures the visitors entertainment and learnings
that can make their time and effort worthwhile during their visit.

Yesterday I had the privilege to be part of DOT-PAL PHILINDEX
at Hyatt Hotel, Manila. It was attended by BUYERS from INDIA. PACEOS presented
to this buyers from INDIA.

The event is simple yet meaningful for our tourism stake at
India. Last year, we have over 300,000 visitors from India. However, data shows
that there are around 14 Million tourists from India that roam around the
world. We must therefore capture a sizeable amount to this big market.

Events like yesterday are a positive sign for our tourism
industry. I am happy that PAL now has trips from India to Manila and vice versa.
This augurs well and hopefully contributes positively to the economic progress
of our country.

A business and livelihood event is set to benefit Quezon
City and nearby cities and provinces. The Kabuhayang Pinoy Expo, May 5-7,2011
at the Activity Center of Trinoma Mall aims to provide business and livelihood
opportunities to the public by showcasing different easy to start business and
livelihood projects.

Now on its second year, Kabuhayang Pinoy Expo received a
resounding approval among the companies and organizations that joined last
year. This is a positive indication that many visitors of the expo involved
themselves to the different companies present on the event either as business
partners or dealers.

This year, a better Kabuhayang Pinoy Expo is prepared to
provide more business and livelihood opportunities to the public - a must now
that the country is facing economic challenges and people are looking for other
sources of income to augment their traditional sources of income which is their
salaries as employees.

Kabuhayang Pinoy Expo also boasts business games and
activities that are intended to immerse and familiarize participants on
different aspects of running a successful enterprise. This portion of the event
is educational and entertaining that all visitors will surely be glued or
prompted to join the activities.

Look and Feel Great Expo
starts tomorrow at Market Market Activity Area. I have written I lot of times
about this event (an indication how in love I am in this concept). After
describing the event in words I am now trying to show you through a collage of
pictures the activities that await you. Activities that is exciting, fresh and
vibrant.

They say picture say a
thousand words, and I am allowing the pictures to say to you what you should
not miss in this great event.

After the planning, selling and completion of all
ingredients needed to make an event successful, you are pushed in the waiting corner for the actual day of the event ( which starts not on
the first day of the event but the ingress or move-in day).

This is one aspect of the event that is very difficult. Your
emotions are bottled-up. Anxiety and excitement fights inside of you and your
team. Doubts swirl around your head. Did I accomplish all the necessary pre-event
needs to make this event a BIG S! Is there anything I have overlooked that
could spell disaster during the actual event? Are my team equipped? Is there
anything I could do to make this event better before the actual day of the event?

Yes! The waiting game hangs like the sword of Damocles.
Trepidations are a natural occurrence. A caffeine fix could not even do anything
to allay the emotions that you have inside. It is like you are waiting for the
gate of adrenaline rush to open.

The waiting game is one of the crossroads of the event. It
is where you keep in silence while your mind shouts and your heart pumps in a
rhythm that you cannot define.

Tic...tac ...tic...tac

The clock ticks and your awareness are heightened. Funny but
true, I sometimes experience the hairs of my body go up, akin to watching a
horror movie - excitement, anxiety, paranoia, and hubris, a mix of everything.

This is the waiting game – all you can do, which I and
Exlinkers do, is pray that everything will be alright.

***

If you are wondering what I am waiting to happen - blimey!
It is Look and Feel Great Expo. If you have forgotten, it is this April 15-16,
2011 at Market, Market, and Taguig City.

There are a lot of snack foods available for us to nibble and
enjoy. However, majority are considered junk or bad for our body. If
taken excessively, they can even be a cause of our illnesses. But again,
we cannot seem to stop having them because they have been part of our
entertainment and relaxation time; a part of our lifestyle.

The good news is a healthy snack is now made available which looks
after our health and total wellness. Introducing, Solara.

Solara is a baked multigrain snack food
that offers all the goodness of a regular chip without the “junk”. It is
made from 5 whole grains: Oats, Corn, Barley, Brown Rice and Whole Wheat, which
serve as a good source of FIBER that provide auto-detoxification in the
body. Solara is also enhanced with LECITHIN to aid in weight control.
Solara does not contain transfat, MSG and cholesterol, making it a healthy and
guilt-free snacking experience.

Solara is a great snack food that is yummy and healthy. Once you
start munching it, it will leave you wanting for more. It’s a perfect
companion during office breaks, relaxing at home in front of the TV or
unwinding from a stressful day. So go on, keep on munching Solara.

For all of you who wanted to have a bite of Solara, it will be
available at the “Look and Feel Great Expo”, April 15-16,2011 at Market,
Market, Taguig City.

Herbalife, one of the leading
direct selling companies on health products, supports “Look and Feel Great
Expo”, April 15-16, 2011, Market, Market, Taguig. Herbalife will hold Fashion
Show of their Biggest Loser Winners, and give talk on “How to Live a Healthy
Life” during the event. In photo (left to right) Ms. Cindy Manimtim, Exlink
Sales Associate, Orly Ballesteros, Exlink Operations Head, Ms. Younghee Chung,
VP and General Manager, Herbalife of Korea and Philippines, and Mr. Choonghoon
Kim, Herbalife International Philippines Country Manager. “Look and Feel Great
Expo is organized by Ex-link Management and Marketing Services Corporation. For
more information, visit www.lookandfeelgreatevent.com.ph or call
tel # 643-3887.

It is hip, cool and funky. A T-shirt design that is up to
the times -I am talking about the Look and Feel Great Expo T-Shirt. Good news
is you can have one of these limited T-Shirt when you purchase a product at the
Look and Feel Great Expo, you automatically have a raffle stub and it will be
drawn during the day of your purchase.

Indeed, it is a great and exciting way to win and join
raffle prizes. You buy, get a raffle ticket and wait for the hour it is drawn,
winners are announce; if you are one of them, you take home the T-shirt – it is
that easy!

Exhibition is a battlefield. It is a battlefield where companies
battle for ATTENTION -the visitors’ attention. This war mentality will help any
company joining the event to be prepared. As the saying goes, planning is half
the battle won.

Now, how do you win the battle? In my experience there are 5
Collaterals that you must have and that you cannot win the battle without it.

1. Flyers and
Brochures

Flyers and brochures are very important. This is where
visitors read information about your company offerings. This maybe simplistic
but I have seen a lot of companies neglect this basic collateral. Yes, you know
the answer - lost of selling opportunities.

Therefore, never forget to design an attractive brochure or
flyers. It can convert sales in exhibitions.

2. Samplings

There is a study that in food expo those exhibitors that
give free tasting get to sell more as compared to those that do not.

In car expo, those that provide test drives get to convert
sales.

In other products the same hold truethat clients/visitors who are given a chance to sample or
experience the products and services get more opportunities to maximize their
investments in exhibitions. You may call this experiential marketing, and yes,
definitely, everybody crave to experience something before they purchase it.

3. Giveaways

Everybody loves free and it is a magnet that never fails to
attract a lot of visitors. So never forget to offer free giveaways. It does not
matter if it is not expensive. The most important thing is your visitors get something
free.

Call this building Goodwill to future and new clients.

4. Calling Card

A mortal sin that is often repeated by those manning your
booth is that they forget to bring their calling cards. Again, this is business
and exhibition is about building trust and relationships – calling cards cover
this ground for you on the initial stage of building trust and relationships.

If you do not have calling cards you lose the chance to be
remembered by your future clients. You ask me why? Of course, there are other booths and
exhibitors out there who is better prepared than you, that is with calling
cards; and even if they did not make any impression they might still have the edge
when potential buyers return to their office and start recollecting what took
place in the event.

5. Lead Information
Sheet

Exhibition and events engagement does not automatically
convert to sales. If this is the case you need to get back at those visitors
who qualified as your target market. A lead information sheet is vital to take
down all necessary information about the buyers and visitors you talk with.

Making a follow-up is one of the sales processes that will
only be successful if you have taken all the important information of those
that you intend to follow-up.

Lead generation is only successful if you have properly
documented those that expressed their interests on your products and services.

This is the 5 collaterals that you cannot be successful without
and this is a guarantee, so take heed and enjoy your exhibition marketing.

Yesterday I attended an event for entrepreneurs; it was almost 4 years since I attended again this particular event. I was happy to see there are many attendees. It made me conclude that the subject matter has reached the tipping point and now it is part of our daily life. So attendees like me wanted to know this new world and learn how to cope and maximize its presence.

The night is going well, the speakers are great not until the second to the last speaker shamelessly begun selling instead of teaching. A big No No when you are given the opportunity to speak in front of a large audience.

Speakers are thought leaders in a learning event. They should not be salesmen who sell snake oil in front of a captured crowd. I pity those people who are methodically influenced by the presentation of the salesman pretending to be a speaker.

Distasteful is a very mild word to describe what was happening. It is crime and will always be categorized as a crime if you abused the trust that was accorded to you by the organizers and attendees. The podium or rostrum for that matter is a respectable platform and respect must be given at any cost.

Again, if this is a product presentation event then it is ok to sell but it’s not. It is a knowledge sharing event about your success, failures, best practices and pitfalls (I hope you get the grip of what I am talking about).

So now, always remember do not sell to me, teach me and let me be transformed by the lessons you bring. It is not too much to ask and it is all I expect when you use the stage, hold the microphone, and flip your awesome PowerPoint.

Until now when that moment passes my mind, I scratch my head in dismay and heave a sigh coupled with this word, “ Anoooobayaaan”.

Talk to me, it’s all I want from you. Talk to me like you
mean it. Look into my eyes and listen when I speak. Listen intently. Listen and
place yourself into my shoes. When you do this I also expect you to respond
accordingly. You should be knowledgeable and you should be honest if you do not
know the answers. We may share a few laughs and exchange banters that will
remind me about you, as a distinct person, out of the many people that I will
talk with.

Yes, talk to me and try to warm me up. Try to gain my trust.
Only when you do this with sincerity will I part ways with my hard earned
money. Only when I give my trust to you as a person will I give trust to the
products and services that you are offering.

This is how we do business. This is the way business should
be if we are aiming to exist in the long haul. Business is a marathon not a
sprint. So do not rush me as if you just look at me as an ATM machine to get
your income. Invest time and relationship and I will invest my resources on
your business. Heck! I can even be your zealous disciple advocating that
everybody try your products and services.

Now that you know what I want will you still talk to me?

# # #

Catch us at Look and Feel Great Expo, April 15-16, 2011 at
Market, Market, Taguig City. For partnership or brand activation objectives,
call us at tel # 643-3887.

When I attend
your event I am not only there to be educated, I am, also, there to be
entertained. Or if in the case, you wanted to entertain me, I am not only there
to be entertained, I also need to be educated. This is a challenge to conferences
or special events – lines are now blurred between education and entertainment.

You do not
want to see me yawning because I am so bored listening to your talk and irritated
at looking on your PowerPoint presentation that you keep on reading and the
fonts are too small I need a microscope to see it clearly (sorry for the exaggeration,
I just want to make a point).

Yes, the
audience, the crowd nowadays are tough and unforgiving. They have raised the
bar on what event managers or organizers should do.

But life is a
process of continuous improvements, and we should be up to feet and meet the
challenges head-on and excited.

This is the
reason why events are special because it must be special and it must create
memories.

For
convention, conference or a simple seminar, there is no other way but to
EDUTAIN me!

#
# #

Our first
produced event of the year is just barely one week from now; we have prepared
edutaining activities so I hope you could drop by. I promise we will continue
our discussions about this interesting word.

FREEBIES can make my day in attending any events. Even if
there is a chance that I am not going to win of those freebies, still the fact
remains that the temperature of my blood rises and my head feels like exploding
– all because of the FREEBIES that I can possibly could win.

FREEBIES are great it make attendees time, money and effort
on being inside an event worthwhile. It is one of the much anticipated parts of
the event – the announcement of winners.

In my experience I always saw flock of people that do not
leave their seats after the end of the last speaker in the conference because
the winners of the freebies are yet to be announced.

Freebies indeed is very powerful – it is (to borrow Marx
quote) the opium of the event attendees.

So next time you do an event do not forget the freebies
because whatever it is the crowd will love and crave for it. More so if your are an event management or tradeshow organizer in the Philippines, Filipinos love and die for freebies.

The good news is we will be giving away freebies to 11:00am
to 12:00nn early birds attendees of the “Look and Feel Great Expo”, April
15-16, 2011 at the Market, Market.

Offer lasts while supply lasts, First Come, First Serve. If
you are asking about the freebies it is enough to make you smile!

Howie Severino, one of the IBLOG 7 Speakers, gave a very engaging talk.

It was my first time to attend a
bloggers event. Yes! I am not kidding. I have been into a lot of events; and
every year, at a minimum, produce and manage 30 events. But attend a bloggers
event was something new to me.

So here I am at the College of
Law, University of the Philippines – the site of IBLOG 7, among the early birds,
I am so curious and fidgety on what to expect with the crowd that will converge
on this special event.

Guess what? It was fun and I get
to meet and listen to some of the Gods of the Blogging Community. I thought
that their over exposure in front of their PC have deprived them of their
social skills – I was very wrong. In fact, they are very warm and friendly.

One of them that I am lucky to
have encountered was Manuel Viloria (www.viloria.net), a veteran blogger with a
big heart. You see he has been blogging, as I remember hearing from him, for over
14 years and yet is doing it out of his passion for writing and proving to the
world that blogging is an effective medium to spread information. I think his
point is as sturdy as an oak tree as shown by the explosion of blogs and the number
of bloggers.

Of course, I saw a friend, Azrael Coladilla
(azraelmerryland.blogspot.com), one of the Toycon organizers. I always look
forward of attending Toycon because I will always be an eternal child in my
heart craving for toys, CGI and Samurai CDs.

Why am I humbled by this
experience? Well the speakers are great, the organizers are greater and the
crowd are the greatest. Great for me means it has the element of WOW and AHA –
I have a lot of these while swimming in this new psychic soup.

So this morning I am returning to
IBLOG 7 to again savour this whiff of fresh air. I have no doubt I will be
reinvigorated again.

EXLINKEVENTS
as organization is expert in the following field of services. As client you may
choose one or a variety of available services in order to make your realize and
implement your events and allow you to enjoy and focus on big things that
matter most.